Free Chael's Luck (A Knights of Dorathan Novel) by Mireille Chester

pain, and fell face first into the leaves and
grass, rolling onto my back, ready to take on whoever or whatever
was coming after me.
    The masked man fell onto me, his fist
connecting with my face. My cheek exploded with pain and I turned
my head, shielding it with my arms. He laughed and threw an elbow
at me. Not sure of what else to do, I reached past his arms, laced
my fingers behind his head, and pulled him down to me. I brought my
head up as hard as I could and heard the telltale sound of his nose
breaking. He cried out but managed to pull away from me. He smashed
his fist into my face once more before pulling his dagger and
swinging it down in an arc toward my side.
    He jerked back and missed his aim, his free
hand reaching over to touch the arrow stuck in his arm. He stumbled
off of me and ran around the cabin, disappearing into the woods
behind it. I rolled onto my stomach before pulling myself up to run
toward the woods behind me. I stopped short at the sight of a man
in a green tunic fighting two goblins.
    “Check the cabin!” he yelled as his dagger
slipped across one of the creatures’ throats.
    I hesitated a fraction of a second before
doing what he said. I jumped over the steps and into the house, my
one slaggen ready. I spotted the second on the floor where it had
fallen. Alexander lay where we had left him, his lifeless eyes
staring up at the ceiling. Someone groaned and I made my way into
the kitchen.
    “Dad!”
    “Chael.” He tried to sit up.
    “Lay down.” I knelt beside him and pressed my
hands over the wound on his abdomen. Blood pumped through my
fingers and soaked into his clothes. “By gods, Dad!”
    “The book…”
    I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Dad. One of the
goblins ran off with it.”
    “You need to get it…”
    “I’ll get it. I promise.” The tears welled in
my eyes.
    “Chael…” He fought to open his eyes. “This
wasn’t your luck. It’s never been your luck.”
    “It was supposed to be better. My luck was
supposed to change.” I wiped the tears from my cheeks with my arm
and tried to press harder on the wound. I swallowed hard. “Stay
with me, Dad. Please. You and me, we’ll get you out of here. I’ll
find a healwife.” The tears were starting again. “It’s always been
you and me.”
    My father blinked his eyes and managed to
focus on me. “It wasn’t your luck, Chael’s luck…” He took a ragged
breath and groaned at the pain. “The day you were born… it took me
years to see clearly and by then, it was too late. I thought I had
the worst luck the day you were born. I was wrong. I should have
told you. I should never have made you be someone you weren’t. You
shouldn’t be a Knight…”
    “You’re wrong, Dad. I should be a Knight. I
am a Knight.” I brushed the hair out of my face. “I’ve loved my
life. I do.”
    His head lolled to the side and he managed to
right it. “Chael… a… I…” His final whisper barely left his lips
before his body relaxed.
    “No…” I set his head down as sobs raked
through me. The sound of Klora’s nervous whinny put me on alert and
I took a deep breath to try and pull myself together. I pulled an
arrow from my quiver and notched it before plastering myself to the
door frame. Whisk’s deep growl turned vicious.
    “Hey, now, good pup.”
    I peered curiously at the man that had saved
my life. One of his eyes was swelled shut and he’d managed to get
cut along the top of his thigh, though not too deeply it would seem
due to the lack of blood soaking into his dark brown pants. His
dark green tunic also had spots of blood on it. I didn’t think any
of it was his. He brushed the dark blond bangs out of his eyes and
reached into his pocket.
    Whisk continued to bare his teeth, seemingly
unaware of the fact the stranger could have been pulling a weapon.
I let my arrow fly and smiled as it dug into the tree just inches
from his face.
    “I’m quite fond of that dog. I wouldn’t do
anything stupid.”
    He looked